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FullTerms&Conditionsofaccessandusecanbefoundathttp://www.
tandfonline.
com/action/journalInformationjournalCode=rcjc20Downloadby:[137.
189.
172.
88]Date:17December2017,At:20:49ChineseJournalofCommunicationISSN:1754-4750(Print)1754-4769(Online)Journalhomepage:http://www.
tandfonline.
com/loi/rcjc20DoChineseInternetuserscareaboutnewsTrackingnewsconsumersontheInternetinametropolis2009–2011FeiShen&HaiLiangTocitethisarticle:FeiShen&HaiLiang(2014)DoChineseInternetuserscareaboutnewsTrackingnewsconsumersontheInternetinametropolis2009–2011,ChineseJournalofCommunication,7:1,60-79,DOI:10.
1080/17544750.
2013.
816755Tolinktothisarticle:https://doi.
org/10.
1080/17544750.
2013.
816755Publishedonline:26Jul2013.
SubmityourarticletothisjournalArticleviews:427ViewrelatedarticlesViewCrossmarkdataDoChineseInternetuserscareaboutnewsTrackingnewsconsumersontheInternetinametropolis2009–2011FeiShen*andHaiLiangCityUniversityofHongKong,HongKongThisstudyaimstoexplorethepatternsandtrendsofInternetnewsuseinaChinesemetropolis,Shanghai.
Byanalyzingnewswebpagebrowsingdatafromthreeselectedmonthsin2009,2010,and2011,weseektopresentsomeevidenceotherthanself-reportdata,whichwerewidelyusedinpastresearchbutsubjecttotheinuenceofmemorylimitationandsocialdesirability.
Ourndingsare:First,InternetusersinShanghaipaidmoreattentiontosoftnews,andnanceandeconomynews,thantosocialandpoliticalnewsbothintermsofvisittimesandvisitduration.
Second,newspagevisitsandtheamountoftimepeoplespentonreadingnewsonlinesuggestclearmonotonicgrowthacrossallcategoriesofnewscontentoverathree-yearperiod.
Third,despitethegrowingamountofvisitsandtimeusedforonlinenews,theproportionofvisitsandtimedevotedtonewsviewingtototalwebpagevisitsandtimespentonlinedecreasedsignicantly.
However,"socialandpoliticalnews"and"nanceandeconomynews"didnotexperienceanydecline.
Finally,existinggapswereidentiedbetweendifferentdemographicgroupsintermsofnewsreadingfrequencyonline,butnocleartrendswereidentiedconcerninghowthegapsdevelopedovertime.
Keywords:Internetnewsuse;China;civicculture;usertrackingdataAsofJune2011,thenumberofInternetusersinChinahasreached4.
85billionwithapenetrationrateof36.
2%.
1TherapidexpansionoftheInternethasspurredmanytheoristsandChinawatcherstodeliberateonthepossiblesocialchangesattributabletonewcommunicationtechnology(Kalathil&Boas,2003;Tai,2006;G.
Yang,2003a,2003b,2003c;Zheng,2007;Y.
Zhou,2006).
Onlinepoliticaldiscussion,collectiveaction,andpublicsphereareafewkeywordsfrequentlyseeninacademicwritingandpopularmediadiscourses.
Theyformpartoftheacademicconceptsthatnodoubtdeservesseriousexamination.
Afundamentalantecedenttothisonlinepoliticaldiscourseandactionisinformationintake,withoutwhichonecannoteffectivelyparticipateincivicandpoliticalactivities.
EventhoughtheproductionofnewsinChinesecyberspaceisregularlycensoredandheavilyregulated,patternsofnewsconsumptiononline–inparticular,socialandpoliticalnews–areworthyofexploring.
KnowinghowChinesepeopleuseonlinenewscouldhelpustounderstandthechangeofcivicculturetakingplaceinChina.
Thepurposeofthecurrentstudyistozeroinonabasicindicatorofcivicculturethathasevadedrigorousexamination:Internetnewsuse,orbroadlytermed,informationaluseoftheInternet.
InformationaluseoftheInternethasbeenshowntoq2013TheCentreforChineseMediaandComparativeCommunicationResearch,TheChineseUniversityofHongKong*Correspondingauthor.
Email:shenfei1010@gmail.
comChineseJournalofCommunication,2014Vol.
7,No.
1,60–79,http://dx.
doi.
org/10.
1080/17544750.
2013.
816755berelatedtopoliticalefcacy,politicalknowledge,andpoliticalparticipation.
AsforstudieswithdatacollectedinChina,frequentInternetnewsuserswerefoundtobemorelikelytoexpressthemselvesonline(Shenetal.
,2009)andtoperceiveamorepluralisticopinionclimate(Wang,Guo,&Shen,2011).
However,tyingInternetnewsusetooutcomesattheindividualleveldoesnotofferanswerstoquestionsatthemacroandaggregatelevels.
AsChineseportalwebsiteshavebecomemorecommercializedsincetheearly2000s,arepeoplereadingmoreorlessnewsonlinethanbeforeWhatarethepossibleexplanationsfortheincreaseordecreaseAmongdifferentwebsitesasnewssources,whatarethemostpopularsites,commercialportalsitesandgovernment-ownednewssitesLiteraturereviewTheexistingbodyofresearchontheInternetinChinatendstoclusteraroundthreeprototypicalmethods:casestudies(Ma,2008;Tang&Bhattacharya,2011;K.
C.
C.
Yang,2010;Yu,2006),webcontentanddiscourseanalysis(Tang&Yang,2011;Yang,2003a;X.
Zhou,2009),andsurveys(Guo&Feng,2012;Mou,Atkin,&Fu,2011;Shenetal.
,2009;Shenetal.
,2011;B.
Zhou,2011).
Veryfewhaveemployedusertrackingdata(seeTewksbury,2003foranexample),whichhaveadvantagesoverself-reportdatainmanyaspects.
ThecurrentstudyassessesthedynamicsanddevelopmentofInternetnewsuseinoneofthebiggestChinesemetropolises,Shanghai.
Werstintroducemonitorialcitizentheory,anormativetheorythatexpectscitizenstofullltheircitizenshipdutiesbypayingattentiontonews.
WethenprovidebackgroundinformationonnewsproductioninChinesecyberspace.
Acentralquestionatissuerelatestotheaudience'spreferencebetweensoftnewsandhardnews–atugofwarbetween"curiosityinlesscontrolledinformation"and"anaturalinclinationtowardentertainment".
MakinguseofInternetusertrackingdatacollectedoverathree-yearspaninShanghai,weshowhowmuchattentionChinesenetizensdevotedtodifferenttypesofnewsinformation,howattentionwaxedandwanedduringthethreeyears,andhowindividualsofdiversedemographicfeaturesconsumednewsdifferently.
MonitorialcitizentheoryandanauthoritarianregimeInformedparticipationistheorizedtobeacrucialfeatureofahealthydemocracy.
Delli-CarpiniandKeeter(1996)expectcitizenstoretainfactualknowledgeaboutvariousaspectsofpolitics.
Downs(1957)andPopkin(1991)haveamorerelaxedviewthatconsiderspoliticalinformationshortcutsvaluable.
Schudson(1998)deemsthatcitizensshouldbeknowledgeableaboutacuteproblemsappearinginnewspaperheadlines.
Althoughpoliticalscientistsdisagreeonhowmuchinformationoneshouldacquire,theconsensusisthatcitizensareexpectedtofullltheirdutyofbeingamonitorialcitizenbyobtaininginformationaboutpublicissuesandusingthatinformationintheirpoliticaldecisions(Berelson,1952;Zaller,2003).
Newsconsumptionisoneofthedirectcausesoftheincreaseincivicandpoliticalknowledge(Evelandetal.
,2005).
Eveninauthoritarianregimes,citizensareexpectedandsometimesencouragedtokeepabreastofcurrentaffairs.
The"education"functionofthemassmediainLeninisttheoryconstitutesanimportantmechanismofsocialcontrol,pushingtheChineseJournalofCommunication61audiencetoadoptinterpretativeframeworksofferedbythestrictlycontrolledmediaoutlets.
Forfearthatmassiveamountsofentertainmentprogramsmayerodethe"socialistvalues"ofthecountry,theChinesegovernmentin2011orderedprovincial-leveltelevisionstationstoincreasetheairingtimeofnewsprograms2totametheoverlypromotedentertainmentprogramssuchasgameshows,datingshows,andsingingauditionshows.
Furthermore,itiswidelyknownthattheChinesegovernmentimposesconstantcontrolovertraditionalnewsmedia(Q.
L.
He,2005).
TraditionalmediacontentisstrictlycontrolledcomparedwiththatcarriedbynewercommunicationplatformsinChina(Lee,1990;Zhao,1998).
Althoughthemarketizationreforminthe1990shaschangedthepurepartypropagandamodel(Lee,He,&Huang,2006),politicallysensitiveissuesstillreceivethetoughesteditorialtreatmentatalltimes.
Sincepoliticalpluralismcontinuestoberesistedbythoseinpower(Goldstein,1995),thefundamentalroleofthemediainChinaremainsconsolidatingthepartyleadership(Brady,2008)throughrunninga"PartyPublicityInc.
"(Z.
He,2000;Leeetal.
,2006).
Inshort,theChinesegovernmentencouragesthepublictolearnaboutnews,butonlythenews"producedandapproved"bythegovernment-controlledmediaoutlets.
However,thecomingoftheInternetalteredthemedialandscape.
Peopletodaycanobtaininformationfromcyberspace.
OnlinenewsinChinesecyberspace:pushingtheboundaryUnfortunately,Internetnewsdoesnotescapetheheavy-handedmanagementofthegovernment(Harwit&Clark,2001).
Accordingtothe"InternetNewsInformationServiceRegulation3"(hulianwangxinwenxinxifuwuguanliguiding)–thelawthatregulatesagenciespublishingnewsonlineinChina–therearethreetypesoflegitimateandlegalnews-carryingwebsites.
Therstcategoryisnewsagency-ownedwebsites,whoseserviceistopublishnewsinformationalreadypublishedintraditionalmediaoutlets(e.
g.
,theonlineversionofXinminEveningNews:http://xmwb.
news365.
com.
cn/).
Thesecondcategoryisgovernment-ownedportalwebsites,whoseserviceistopublishnewsinformationnotpublishedviatraditionalmediaoutlets,forexample,Eastday.
com(www.
eastday.
com).
Thethirdcategoryisportalwebsitesownedbyprivatecompanies,suchasSina.
com,Baidu.
com,Sohu.
comandTencent'sQQ.
com.
Thethreetypesoforganizationsdifferintheirlevelsofcommercializationandjournalisticautonomy(Zhang&Tao,2010).
Theformertwotypesofwebsitesarealmostthehandmaidenofthegovernment.
Sincetheseinstitutionsalreadyhavearigorouslycontrolledroutineofnewsproductioninplace,theyareallowedtohavetheirownreporterswhocantraveloutofthenewsroomtoconductinterviewsandcovernewsstories.
Insharpcontrast,commercialportalsitesneedtoapplyforalicenseforrepostingnewsarticlesauthoredbygovernment-ownedmediainstitutions.
Theseinstitutionscanonlyserveas"newsaggregators":theyhaveno"interviewrights"andarenotallowedtocovertheirownstoriesbyconductinginterviews.
HeandZhu(2002)studied94onlinenewspapersin1999andfoundthatnewswebsitesthenwereinaprimitivestageofdevelopmentandthedifferencebetweenonlinenewspapersandtheirprintversionswasnotsignicant.
Atthattime,theproductionofnewsonlineseemedtostrictlyfollowtheregulationofthegovernment:onlinenewscontentwassimplyareplicaofthenewsofine.
Marketforceshaveplayedaroleintransformingthebusiness.
Thetopthreeportalwebsitecompanies(Sina,Netease,andSohu)issuedIPOsin2000.
In2003,theybegantomakeaprot62FeiShenandHaiLiang(Liu,2005).
FiercecompetitionintheprivatesectorhasbecomeamajorforcepushingtheboundaryofonlinenewsservicesinChina.
Mostofthetime,privateportalwebsitesrespondmoreswiftlytonewseventsthangovernment-ownedwebsites(Fu&Zhou,2007).
AcomparisonbetweenSina'sandNetease'snewsstoriesin2005(Yi&Xi,2007)revealedthatbothcompaniesusedtheirownstylesandmethodstostretchtheenvelopeofgovernmentregulationtocapturealargeraudienceshare.
Toexpandonlinenewsmarketshare,atleastthreestrategieswereadopted:enhancingin-depththematiccoverage,takingadvantageofusergeneratedcontent,andpromotingsoft-newsandnewstopicsthatfallinto"greyareas".
First,sincenon-government-ownedportalwebsitesdonotpossessqualiedreporterstocollectnewsinformationthroughinterviews,theymakegooduseoftheirbestowedrighttoconductinformationsynthesis.
Whenanimportantnewseventoccurs,backgroundinformationoftheevent(e.
g.
,history,possiblecauses,similarcasesfromforeigncountries,etc.
)willbequicklyassembled,formulatingathematicwebpagethatcontainsdifferentrelatedstories(notnecessarily"news")thatcouldhelptheaudiencetomakesenseofthenewsevent.
AboutatenthofSina.
com'snewsstoriesin2005werein-depththematiccoverage(Yi&Xi,2007).
Second,takingadvantageoftheinteractivefeatureoftheInternet,commercialportalwebsites,Netease.
cominparticular,capitalizeonusergeneratedcontent(e.
g.
,blogs,comments,etc.
)toamplifytheirimpact.
Forinstance,Internetusers'commentsonaparticularnewseventcouldbeusedasnewsheadlinesforappealingtotheaudience.
Sinceusers'commentsorblogpostsdonotcountas"interview",theyaregoodrawmaterialforeditorstouse.
EditorialsandcommentariesbyordinaryInternetusersareothertoolstoboostinuencethatcanberevisedtotheextentthatneitherofthemis"news".
Third,accordingtothe"InternetNewsInformationServiceRegulation",4"news"referstocoverageandcommentariesonpolitics,economics,military,internationalrelations,andserioussocialincidents.
Thus,thesamelevelofcontroldoesnotapplytosoftnews–entertainment,sports,and"lessserious"socialincidents.
Inmanyinstances,socialtopicsfallingwithinagreyarea–topicsnotnecessarilyhardcorepolitical(e.
g.
,thepresidentattendingapolitbureaumeeting)ortopicsonsmall-scalesocialincidents,couldbeoperatedwithsafetytoacertainextent(e.
g.
,caraccidents,consumercomplaints,etc.
).
Admittedly,Chinatodaypossessestheworld'smostsophisticatedInternetmonitoringandcensorshipsystem(Cherry,2005),butabsolutecontrolovertheInternetremainsimpossible(Endeshaw,2004)outsideoforderingacompleteshutdownofthenet.
AlternativeinformationtoofcialpropagandandstheInternetanamiableplaceforsurviving.
WiththeexceptionsofahandfulofextremelytouchyissuesimplicatingpossiblesubversionoftheChineseCommunistParty'srule,diverseopinionsandinformationcanbefoundonblogs,portalwebsites,bulletinboards,andinterpersonalcommunicationsonline(Esraey,2008).
Thankstothe"greyarea"practicesinventedbywebjournalists,scholars(Zhang&Tao,2010)ndthatjournalistsworkingforprivateportalwebsitesactuallyenjoyedhigherlevelsofjobsatisfaction–includingsenseofachievementandjournalisticautonomy–thanjournalistsworkingforgovernment-ownednewswebsites.
DuetothetechnologicalfeaturesoftheInternet,thenon-ofcialdiscursiveuniversewaseasiertoexpandincyberspacesinceitislesstightlycontrolled(Z.
He,2008;2009;Wangetal.
,2011).
ChineseJournalofCommunication63PoliticsorentertainmentTheaudience'schoiceChina'sdivisionbetweenthetraditionalmedia-sphereandcyberspacecouldpossiblyrenderinformationfromonlinemoreattractivethanthatpresentedontraditionalmediaplatforms.
ChineseInternetuserscouldndInternetnewsmoretimely,trustworthy,andlesspropagandisticthanwhattheycouldobtainfromnewspapersortelevisionprograms.
IfthemajorconcernofUSscholarsistoidentifynewstopicsthatcouldenhanceaudienceinterestsandreinforcerecall(Price&Czilli,1996),theprimaryinterestforscholarsfocusingonChinaiswhethertheadventoftheInternetcouldfosteravibrantciviccultureinanauthoritarianregime,atleastataslowpace.
ThesubstantialtechnicalfreedomthattheInternetofferstoitsuserswouldencouragepeopletopursuetheirowninterests,mostlyentertainmentinformation.
Interactivityleadstogreaterselectivity(Chaffee&Metzger,2001;Tewksbury&Althaus,2000).
Sunstein(2001)pointedoutthedangersofahighlylteredinformationenvironment,forinstance,adecreaseinsharedcommunicationexperiencesandexposuretobiasedandincompleteviewpoints.
EchoingSunstein'sconcern(2001),Tewksbury(2003)foundthatUSonlinenewsaudiencesconsumelesspublicaffairsnewsthantheyclaimedinsurveyresearch.
IndividuallevelfactorsSowhatdeterminesanindividual'suseofInternetnewsSincemosthumanbehaviorispurposeful(Marken,1990),theusesandgraticationsperspective(Katz,Blumler,&Gurevitch,1974)canhelpexplainthephenomenon.
Themediaprovidedifferentsourcesofsatisfactionandanactiveaudiencewillneedtomakechoices.
Thetypesofneedsmostlyrelatedtonewsconsumptionareutility,surveillance,anddiversion.
Theend-resultofthetugofwarbetween"curiosityinlesscontrolledinformation"and"anaturalinclinationtowardentertainment"ispredicateduponsurveillanceneeds.
Surveillancemotivationistheprimedrivingforcefornewsinformationattention.
Itcanbecharacterizedasamediator(Viswanathetal.
,2000)betweensocioeconomicstatus(SES)andnewslearning,asamoderatorcapableofreducingtheknowledgegap(Kwak,1999),andasanexogenousvariablethataccountsforalargeproportionofthevarianceinnewsknowledge(Eveland,2001,2002).
HymanandSheatsley(1947)founditessentialtobreakaudience'spsychologicalbarrierstostimulatepeople'sinterestinknowing.
Bennett(1988)concludedthatsurveillancemotivationandcapabilitycanaccountforaroundhalfofthevariationinnewsknowledge.
Luskin(1990)arguedthatinterestisthemostrobustpredictorofpeople'sinformationseeking.
WhentheChineseaudienceexercisesitsfreedomtoconsumeinformationbeyondthestrictlycontrolledtraditionalmediaoutlets,whichfactorwillplayaweightierroleindeterminingpreference–people'snaturaltendencyforentertainmentortheirattentiontopublicaffairsinformationTheanswertothisquestionhascrucialimplicationsforChinesesocietyinthatkeepingupwithcurrentaffairsisoneindispensablecomponentofahealthycivicculture.
Surveillanceneedsarecloselyrelatedtodemographicvariables(Nguyen&Western,2007).
StempelIII,Hargrove,andBernt(2000)foundthatInternetnewsusefrequencyishigheramongyoung,male,highlyeducated,andhighincomeindividuals.
Similarly,XenosandMoy(2007)foundyoungerindividuals,thewell-educatedandhighincomeindividualsweremorelikelytobeexposedtoonlinepoliticalinformation.
KayeandJohnson's(2002)studydiscoveredthateducationis64FeiShenandHaiLiangnegativelyassociatedwithusingpoliticalwebsitesforgratifyingsurveillanceneeds,butinanotherstudy(Kaye&Johnson,2004),educationwaspositivelyrelatedtoinformationseekingonline.
MacrolevelfactorsDomacrolevelfactorsinuencethewaypeopleconsumeonlinenewsInadditiontoscrutinizingindividuallevelfactors,itisalsomeaningfultoaskwhetherChineseInternetusershavebeenpayingagrowingorshrinkingamountofattentiontonewsonline.
Overthepastfewyears,quiteafewobservablesocialtrendshaveemergedthatcouldhaveimpactsonpeople'smotivationtoconsumeInternetnews.
First,agrowingnumberofnewsincidentswererstrevealedbyonlinesourcesandattractedwidespreadtraditionalmediacoverageandintensepublicattention:in2009,theDengYujiaocase;in2010,thetaintedmilkpowderscandal,andthe"mydadisLigang"meme;in2011,thehigh-speedtraincollision.
Secondandrelatedly,socialnetworkingsites,inparticular,theWeiboserviceprovidedbySina.
com,isaplacewherethespeedofnewstransmissionisexceedinglyfast.
Around13.
8%ofChineseInternetuserswereonWeiboin2010,andthisnumberincreasedto48.
7%in2011.
5Withoutsocialnetworkingsites,onehastopossesshighsurveillancemotivationtovisitthehomepageofanewsportalwebsitetolookfornews.
Yetwithsocialnetworkingsites,onecanrunintonews"incidentally",whensomeonewithinhisorhersocialnetworksharesapieceofnewsfromportalsites,thusincreasingtheamountofpotentialnewsreaders.
Third,asmentionedearlier,commercialnewsportalsiteshavetriedmanymethodstolureinmorevisitorsbymakingnewsmoreattractive.
Withalltheseusesforthenews,haveChineseInternetusersacquiredhigherlevelsofcivicawarenessCrudedataonChinesenetizens'attentiontoInternetnewsareavailable,butnottoohelpfulinansweringthequestion.
ThedatapointsinFigure1indicatetheproportionofChineseInternetuserswhoidentied"readingnewsonline"asafrequentInternetactivity,accordingtoCNNIC's(ChinaInternetNetworkInformationCenter,thestatenetworkinformationcenter)biannualnationwidesurvey,atimeseriesspanningbetween2000and2011.
TheoverallpatternsuggestsaclearS-curvepattern:Between2000and2003,onlyabout10–25%ofthenetizensfrequentlyreadnewsonline;2004witnessedasteepincreaseinonlinenewsreadersandthenumber,comparedtomid-2003,almosttripled.
Between2004and2008,asteadygrowthwasobserved,thoughwithupsanddowns;butthemomentumsloweddowninthemostrecentthreeyears(2009–2011).
DidonlinenewsloseitsmomentumWhenusingameasuretodifferentiateusersfromnon-users,wearenotabletoanswerquestionsregardingthefrequencyandtimeatwhichpeoplereadnewsonline.
Eveninresponsetoquestionssuchas"howfrequentlydopeoplevisitnewswebpages"and"howmuchtimedotheyspendonreadingnews",self-reportdataareincapableofofferinganuancedunderstandingofInternetusers'newsconsumptionbehaviors.
Peopleusuallyhaveavaguememoryabouttheirinformationconsumptionhabit.
Socialdesirabilitycouldalsocontaminateself-reportdata.
Incontrast,webviewingdataarericherandmoreprecise.
Furthermore,motivationtoacquirenewsinformationiscloselyrelatedtodemographiccharacteristics.
Earlyresearchontheknowledgegaphypothesispointsoutthatacertaingroupofpeoplearemorelikelytoexposethemselvestomediainformationbecauseoftheirinterests,cognitiveskills,andbackgroundknowledgeChineseJournalofCommunication65(Tichenor,Donohue,&Olien,1970).
Castells(2001)arguesthattheInternetnotonlyoffersopportunitiesbutalsoexacerbatestechnologygaps.
Therefore,wealsoaskwhethertherearegapsamongdifferentdemographicgroupsintermsofonlinenewsexposure,andifyes,whetherthegapswereclosingorwideningovertheyears.
Withthediscussionabove,weproposedthefollowingresearchquestions.
RQ1a:HowdoesonlinenewsconsumptionvaryacrossdifferentnewscategoriesDopeoplefocustheirattentiononlyononecategoryofnewsoraretheyexposedtoawidecombinationofnewsRQ1b:HowdoesnewsconsumptionvaryoverthepastthreeyearsRQ2a:Arethereanynewsconsumptiongapsacrosssub-populationsRQ2b:ArethenewsconsumptiongapsclosingorwideningMethodWebviewingdataWebbrowsingdatawereobtainedfromiResearch,6oneoftheleadingInternetresearch,marketingandconsultingcompaniesinMainlandChina.
ThecompanymaintainsanationalpanelofInternetusers(i.
e.
,iUserTracker).
ThedatarecordtheURLaddressofeachWorldWideWebpageeachpanelmemberviewed.
Forthepresentstudy,recordsof200panelistsinJune2009,June2010,andJune2011,respectively,wereused.
All600panelistsarelocatedinShanghai.
Eachoftheserecordentriesincludesauseridenticationnumber,pageURLaddress,thetimewhenthepagewasaccessed,thedurationofviewing,demographicinformationofthepanelmember(includinggender,age,education,andincome)andthecategoryofthewebpage(e.
g.
,news,B2B,socialnetworkingetc.
).
ThecategorizationusedbyiResearchFigure1.
Internetnewsusetrend2000–2011(CNNICbiannualsurveydata).
Notes:ThegraphwasbasedonCNNICbiannualsurveyreportsfrom2000to2011(seehttp://www.
cnnic.
cn/research/zx/qwfb/).
Thetimeserieswasderivedfromanswerstotherepeatedsurveyquestion,"WhichofthefollowingInternetserviceyouusefrequently"(item:newsviewing).
66FeiShenandHaiLiangdoesnothappenatthenewspagelevel,butatthe"channel"level.
Thisisbecausenewspagesarenotrandomlydistributedontheserversofnewsproviders.
Forinstance,qq.
complacesallitsentertainmentnewsunderent.
qq.
com;thusallthepageswithinthisfolderareentertainmentnews.
Similarly,163.
complacesallitssportsnewsundersports.
163.
com.
Inotherwords,iResearchadopteddenitionsofdifferenttypesofnewsfromnewsproviders.
Admittedly,whenitcomestonewsthatfallsintotwoormorecategories,forexample,theloveaffairofasportscelebrity,differentwebsitesmighthavetheirownwaysofdecision-making.
Butsituationslikethisshouldonlyconstituteasmallportionofallnews.
Excludingthosepagevisitsunrelatedtonews(e.
g.
,onlineshopping,gaming,socialnetworking,searchengine,etc.
),therawdatacontainsatotalof10typesofwebpagesthatcontainnewsinformation.
Forthesakeofsimplicityandclarity,the10typesofwebpagesweregroupedintothreecategories:softnews(entertainment,sports,etc.
),socialandpoliticalnews,andnanceandeconomynews.
Thesub-categoriesundersoftnewsinclude:entertainment,sports,health,andinformationtechnology;thesub-categoriesundersocialandpoliticalnewsinclude:society,military,andpolitics;thesub-categoriesundernanceandeconomynewsinclude:nanceandeconomy,business,andrealestate.
PanelsampleThe600panelmembersaresampledaccordingtosexandagedistributionoftheInternetuserpopulationinShanghai,China(quotasampling).
Thecompanyrecruitspanelmembersviaemailorreferencebyexistingmembers.
Forthosewhoaredifculttoreachthroughtheabovementionedchannels(e.
g.
,theelderly),thecompanycontactsthemviatelephoneormailtoensurethatthepanelincludesuserswithdiversebackgrounds.
ThepanelistsjoinedthepanelbyinstallingtheiUserTrackersoftwareonthecomputerstheyusetoaccesstheInternet.
ThesoftwaretracksInternetusers'webbrowsingbehaviorwithoutobtrusiveinterruptions.
Demographicinformationonthepanelistswascollectedthroughtelephoneintervieweverysixmonths.
About15%ofthepanelistswerereplacedbynewmemberseverythreemonths.
Thepanelmemberswereexcludedfromthepaneliftheyfailedtobetheuserofthecomputer.
Therefore,the600usersacrossthethreeyearstobeanalyzedinourstudywerenotthesame,thoughtherewereoverlaps.
ThedatawereweightedbysexandagetoensuretherepresentativenessofInternetusersinShanghai.
Theweightsarebasedonarandom-digit-dialingtelephonesurveyconductedin2010inShanghai(Shen&Wang,2013).
About52%oftheweightedpanelistsaremale,48%ofthemarebelow35yearsold,57%haveabachelordegreeorabove,and41%ofhaveanincomeabove3000RMBpermonth.
MeasuresFourindividual-levelvariableswereconstructedbasedonthetrackingdata.
"Visit"quantiesthefrequencyofaparticularwebcategoryvisitedbyauserinamonth.
"Visitpercentage"measurestheproportionofvisitstoawebcategoryrelativetothetotalvisitsofaparticularuserinamonth.
"Duration"measuresthetime(inseconds)auserspentonaparticularwebpagecategoryinamonth.
"Durationpercentage"istheproportionofdurationauserspentonaparticularwebcategoryrelativetothetotaltimethepersonspentonlineinamonth.
ChineseJournalofCommunication67Thepresentmethodhasseveraladvantagescomparedtoself-reportnewsconsumptionmeasures.
First,itismorereliableandprecisethanself-reportmethods.
Peopledopoorlyatreportingtheirownhabits(Tewksbury,2003).
Newsreadersmayvaguelyrecallwhattheyactuallyviewedonlineandhowlongtheyspentonaparticularwebpage.
Webtrackingsoftwarerecordspeople'snewsconsumptionhabitswithoutanyinterventionlikeinanexperiment(D'Haenens&Jankowski,2004;Tewksbury&Althaus,2000).
Second,weconstructedmultipleindicatorstomeasurepeople'snewsconsumptionhabits.
LotsofprevioussurveystudiesconsidertheInternetanamorphouswhole(Shah,Kwak,&Holbert,2001),butuserscouldbrowsevarioustypesof"newsinformation"bytheirowndenition.
MeasuringInternetusebyfrequencyandhoursofusehaslongbeenchallenged(Krautetal.
,1998;Nie&Erbring,2000).
Ourdatarecordnotonlywhetherusersreadnewsornot,butalsowhatkindsofnewstheyread,howfrequently,andforhowlong.
Furthermore,previousstudiestendtouseoneshotcross-sectionaldesignstoexplorethepatternsofonlinenewsconsumption(Althaus&Tewksbury,2000).
Inthisstudy,thelongitudinaldesigncanhelpustogainadditionalinsightsintothedetailsofuserbehavioroverthethreeyears.
ResultsBeforepresentingndingsrespondingtoourresearchquestions,werstdescribeShanghaiInternetusers'overallnewsviewingpattern.
Irrespectiveofyear-to-yearvariation,about89%(n534)ofthepanelistshavevisitednewswebpagesatleastonceduringtheselectedperiodofexamination,whichsuggeststhevastmajorityofInternetuserswereexposedtonewsonlineatleastoncewithintheselectedmonth.
Thetotalfrequencyofnewspagevisitsisabout128,691(600usersinonemonth'stime).
Onaverage,eachuservisited241pagespermonth(twovisitstothesamepagewerecountedastwo"pages").
Roughlyassumingthatasinglepagecontainsonenewsitem,InternetusersfromShanghaireadabouteightpiecesofnewsonadailybasis.
Theaveragetimeauserspendsonreadingnewspagesisaround239minutespermonth,whichtranslatesintofewerthaneightminutesperday.
However,toputtheabovestatisticsinperspective,onehastobeawareofthetimeShanghaiInternetusersspendonothertypesofwebservices.
Inactuality,newsreadingconstitutesasmallproportionofthetimetheystayedonline.
ShanghaiInternetusersonaveragespendmorethanonehouradayontheInternet.
Theaveragefrequencyofwebpagevisitswas75perday.
About10%ofthevisitscontainsomeformofnewsinformation,andabout12%ofonlinetimewasdevotedtonewsreading.
Table1isalistofthewebsitesrankedbyvisitingfrequency.
Aboutnineoutofthe30websitesonthelistprovidenewsservices.
Otherpopularwebsitesareonlineshoppingsites,searchengines,andsocialnetworkingsites.
Themostpopularnewsportalwebsiteswere:QQ.
com(Tencent),sina.
com.
cn(Sina),163.
com(Netease),sohu.
com(Sohu),yahoo.
com(Yahoo),ifeng.
com(phoenixTV),eastmoney.
com(stockandnancialnews),hoopchina.
com(sportsnews),andynet.
com.
7Allofthesearecommercialportalsites.
RQ1a:HowdoesonlinenewsconsumptionvaryacrossdifferentnewscategoriesDopeoplefocustheirattentiononlyononecategoryofnewsoraretheyexposedtoawidecombinationofnews68FeiShenandHaiLiangRegardlessofcross-yeardifferences,themostfrequentlyvisitedpagesweresoftnewspages(39.
5%).
Thesecondmostvisitedcategoryisnanceandeconomynews(30.
0%),followedbysocialandpoliticalnews(22.
6%).
Thedistributionoftimespentforeachnewscategorywasdifferentfromthatofpagevisitfrequency.
Overall,usersspentmostoftheirtimeon"nanceandeconomy"(48.
3%),followedby"softnews"(23.
3%)and"socialandpoliticalnews"(22.
7%).
Byeithermeasure,socialandpoliticalnewsattractedlessattentionthansoft-newsandnanceandeconomynewsdid.
Thenwedividedtheusersintothreetypes:thosewhoonlyvisitedonecategoryofnews,thosewhovisitedtwotypesofnews,andthosewhovisitedallthreetypesofnews.
Themajorityoftheusers(52.
17%)visitedpagesfromallthreenewscategories.
About24.
76%oftheusersvisitedtwotypesofnews.
About23.
06%oftheusersonlyvisitedoneofthethreenewscategories(9.
94%softnews,6.
48%nanceandeconomynews,and7.
24%socialandpoliticalnews).
Thepercentageofindividualswhovisitedmorethantwocategoriesincreasedfrom61.
34%to83.
70%in2009and2011,respectively.
Table1.
Popularwebsitesrankedbyviewingfrequency(2009–2011).
RankingWebsiteServiceTypeNewsWebsiteRanking1taobao.
comShopping2kaixin001.
comsocialnetworking3baidu.
comsearchengine4qq.
comnewsportal15dianping.
comconsumerreviews6sina.
com.
cnnewsportal27163.
comnewsportal38renren.
comsocialnetworking9weibo.
comsocialnetworking10sohu.
comnewsportal411alipay.
comonlinepayment12google.
com.
hksearchengine13360buy.
comshopping14yahoo.
comnewsportal51551fanli.
comshopping1651job.
comjobhunting17ifeng.
comnewsportal618eastmoney.
comnancialnews719sogou.
commusicdownloading20hoopchina.
comsportsnews821live.
comMSNservice22126.
comemailservice23zhaopin.
comjobhunting24ynet.
comnewsportal925360.
cnanti-virus26youku.
comvideosharing27douban.
comsocialnetworking28admin5.
comtechnology29google.
comsearchengine30yihaodian.
comshoppingChineseJournalofCommunication69RQ1b:HowdoesnewsconsumptionvaryacrossthepastthreeyearsTohaveabetterunderstandingofShanghaiInternetusers'newsconsumptionpatterns,itisimportanttocheckwhetherandhowonlinenewsreadingbehaviorschangedovertime.
Table2showsthemeansofpanelists'newspagevisitfrequencyanddurationacrossyears.
Asexpected,agrowingtrendcanbeobservedfromtheabsolutevaluesofvisitfrequencyandduration.
Thetotalnumberofnewspagevisitsincreasedby10timesfrom2009to2011whilethetotaldurationofnewspagevisitsincreasedby9.
1times(block1andblock3,"allnews"column).
"Hardnews"increasedmostrapidlyoverthethree-yearspan:Economicandnancialnewsincreased12.
3times,andsocialandpoliticalnewsincreased10.
3timesintermsofvisitfrequency.
Intermsofduration,economicandnancenewsincreasedmorethan22times.
IncontrastwiththeCNNICdata(seeFigure1),whichsuggestsastagnantsituationfrom2009–2011,ourdatashowedamonotonicincrease.
8Table2.
Internetnewsusepattern(2009–2011).
DVSoftNewsFinanceEconomySocialPoliticalAllNewsTotalVisitsNBlock1Visit(perpersoninamonth)200921.
7312.
179.
7548.
71530.
03166201057.
8347.
2047.
64169.
121951.
891822011197.
66150.
27100.
76483.
004444.
57186F7.
13**16.
89**25.
95**24.
01**73.
07**Combined95.
2872.
1954.
34240.
942377.
23534Block222Visit%20096.
21%3.
72%2.
87%15.
43%16620103.
63%2.
45%3.
32%10.
34%18220113.
57%3.
59%4.
61%12.
67%186F5.
61**1.
391.
574.
12*Combined4.
41%3.
24%3.
63%12.
74%534Block3Duration(secondsperpersoninamonth)2009957.
50706.
12538.
832440.
7123,847.
9816620102906.
053402.
933829.
0411,190.
46117,903.
7818220115926.
1615,969.
425143.
0128,138.
57217,991.
55186F8.
12**6.
25**13.
71**12.
40**75.
89**Combined3351.
076939.
553262.
1014,368.
17123,471.
93534Block422Duration%20092.
34%4.
43%3.
70%16.
30%16620101.
02%2.
48%3.
67%10.
06%18220110.
63%4.
31%4.
26%11.
97%186F6.
24**2.
400.
206.
48**Combined1.
29%3.
73%3.
89%12.
67%166Note:Underlinedentriesindicatenosignicantdifference.
Apositivesignindicatessignicantincreaseswhereasanegativesignindicatessignicantdecreases.
70FeiShenandHaiLiangAlthoughwehaveseensignicantgrowthinnewsintakeintermsofvisitfrequencyandduration,itcouldbeattributedtothegeneralgrowthofInternetuse.
Therefore,itisnecessarytoexaminehowusersallocatetheirtimebetweennewsviewingandotheractivitiesontheInternet.
Table2alsoshowsthatvisitfrequencyanddurationpercentagedeclinedsignicantlyoverthepastthreeyears(block2andblock4,"allnews"column).
Althoughusersvisitednewswebpagesmorefrequentlyandspentmoretimeonreadingnewsthanbefore,theyallocatedasmallerproportionofvisitsandtimetonews.
Forexample,atypicaluserdevoted16.
3%ofhisorheronlinetimetonewsreadingin2009,butheorsheonlyspent11.
9%in2011,despitethefactthatoverallnewsviewingfrequencyandtimewerebothontherise.
Interestingly,amoredetailedlookatTable2willndthattheoveralldeclinewascausedbysoftnews(Visits:F5.
61,p,.
01;Duration:F6.
24,p,.
01).
Economyandnancenewsandsocialandpoliticalnewsdidnotexperienceanydeclinepercentage-wise.
TheirratesofincreaseacrosstimecaughtupwiththeoverallgrowthrateofInternetuse.
Inotherwords,thepercentageofvisitsandtimeShanghaiInternetusersdevotedtosocial,political,economy,andnancenewsremainedlargelythesame,ifnothikedupalittle.
RQ2a:Arethereanynewsconsumptiongapsacrosssub-populationsTable3.
Internetnewsuseanddemographicdifference(2009–2011).
VisitVisit%DurationDuration%Within-SubjectsEffects(F-ratio)Category132.
64**10.
86**88.
77**2.
25CategoryIVsaBetween-SubjectsEffects:F-ratio(estimatedmarginalmeans)Year23.
93**22.
47**17.
57**34.
70**(2009/2010/2011)(1.
31/4.
54/7.
33)(4.
9/2.
0/2.
3)(10.
59/71.
38/77.
91)(4.
5/1.
5/1.
5)Sex11.
03**0.
9311.
90**0.
00(Male/Female)(4.
78/2.
59)(3.
0/2.
7)(62.
19/24.
33)(2.
1/2.
2)Age13.
92**0.
0117.
91**0.
10(Young/Old)(2.
40/5.
16)(2.
9/2.
8)(20.
51/73.
77)(2.
2/2.
1)Education5.
15*3.
89**6.
05**2.
60(Low/High)(2.
79/4.
44)(3.
2/2.
6)(26.
80/56.
47)(2.
4/1.
9)Income3.
0310.
41**5.
74*8.
46**(Low/High)(4.
22/2.
93)(2.
4/3.
4)(56.
25/26.
90)(1.
8/2.
6)RSquare0.
780.
600.
810.
66YearSex2.
036.
19**3.
13*7.
61**YearAge3.
41*0.
004.
10*1.
25YearEducation0.
592.
861.
070.
35YearIncome2.
793.
43*4.
10*0.
68RSquare0.
780.
610.
820.
67Note:aindicatestheinteractiontermsbetweennewscategoryandotherIVswereomittedherebecausetheyweretreatedascontrolvariables.
Thedependentvariableswerelogtransformedtoavoidskeweddistribution.
ChineseJournalofCommunication71WeconductedaseriesofrepeatedmeasuresapplyingGLMs(generalizedlinearmodels)onnewsviewingindicatorsacrossthreecategories.
Table3showsthatthereweresignicantdemographicdifferencesinonlinenewsconsumption.
Maleusersvisitednewswebpagesmorefrequentlyandspentmoretimeonnewsbrowsingthanfemaleusers.
Youngerusersvisitednewswebpagesmorefrequentlyandspentmoretimethanelderusers.
Despitethegenderandagedifferencesinnewspagevisitfrequencyandviewingduration,proportion-wise,genderandagedidnotmakeadifference(seeVisit%andDuration%columns,Table3).
Regardingsocialeconomicstatus,userswithhigherlevelsofeducationvisitedmorenewswebpagesandspentmoretimeonreadingthem.
However,theyallocatedasmallerproportionofvisitstonewswebviewing(seeVisit%column).
Higherincomeusersspentlesstimeononlinenewsviewingthanthelowerones.
Butproportion-wise,userswithhigherincomevisitedonlinenewsmorefrequentlyandspentmoretime.
RQ2b:ArethegapsclosingorenlargingSoftNewsFinance&EconomySocial&Political200920102011200920102011200920102011Gender(left:male,right:female)DurationDuration%Age(left:young,right:old)DurationDuration%Education(left:low,right:high)DurationDuration%Income(left:low,right:high)DurationDuration%Figure2.
Internetnewsusebydemographicgroups(DurationandDuration%).
72FeiShenandHaiLiangTable3alsoreportstheinteractioneffectsbetweenyearandthefourdemographicvariablesonnewsconsumption.
Theresultssuggestthattheinteractiontermscontributelittletoimprovingthemodel,aswasdemonstratedbythesmallchangeinRsquare.
Newsconsumptionpatternsacrosssub-populationsdidnotchangesignicantlyovertheyears.
Mostoftheinteractioneffectswerenotsignicantexceptforthoseonduration.
Plus,noobviousandsystematicpatternsofchangecouldbeidentied,accordingtoFigure2,whichdetailsthepatternsindemographicdifferencesinnewsuseacrossyears.
ConclusionanddiscussionHowtheInternetisusedbyasocietypartiallyreectsthefeaturesofthesociety.
ThisstudyaimstoexplorethepatternsandtrendsofInternetnewsuseinoneofthebiggestcitiesinChina.
Weseektopresentsomeevidenceotherthanself-reporteddata,whicharesubjecttotheinuencesoflimitedmemorycapacityandsocialdesirability,byanalyzingonlinenews-viewingdata.
Basedontheempiricalevidenceathand,weaimtoidentifythefactorsthatcouldpossiblyinuencedifferenttypesofinternetnewsuse.
Ourndingscouldbesummarizedinthefollowingmanner.
Foremost,InternetusersinShanghaipaidmoreattentiontosoftnewsandnanceandeconomynewsthantosocialandpoliticalnewsbothintermsofvisitfrequencyandintermsofviewingduration.
Despitetheimbalancedattentiondistribution,mostusersdidexposethemselvestomorethanonecategoryofnews.
Second,demographicbackgroundhasasignicantinuenceonInternetnewsuse.
MalesandyoungindividualsaremorelikelytouseInternetnewsingeneral,buteducationandincomeexhibitedmorecomplicatedpatterns.
Third,thenumberofnewspagevisitsandtheamountoftimespentonnewspagesshowedaclearmonotonicgrowthpatternacrossallcategoriesofnewscontent.
Thisshouldnotcomeasasurprisebecauseoftheincreaseinthebaseline–thetotalfrequencyandtotaldurationofallonlineactivities.
Fourth,althoughtheabsolutenumberofvisitsandthetimefornewsbrowsingwererising,thepercentagesofvisitsandtimedurationfornewsbrowsingwereshrinking.
Interestingly,theproportionofvisitsandtimepeopledevotedtoentertainmentandsportsnewsdeclinedsignicantly;however,"socialandpoliticalnews"andthe"nanceandeconomynews"didnotexperienceanydeclines.
Finally,therewereexistinggapsamongdifferentdemographicgroupsintermsofonlinenewsuse.
Butnoclearpatternswereidentiedconcerninghowthegapsdevelopedovertime.
WhatsubstantivemeaningscouldbeextractedfromthesendingsWeelaborateonthemeaningsofourndingsinthefollowingfourthemes.
EntertainmentdominancePeopleallocatearoundatenthoftheironlinetimetonews,andasubstantialportionofvisitsgoestosoftnews.
Entertainmentandsportsnewstrumpsocialandpoliticalnews.
AlthoughthedatawerelyoncamefromShanghai,weinclinetoconsiderourrstndinggeneralizabletothewholecountryfortworeasons.
First,itresonateswithTewksbury's(2003)observationintheUS,wheresportsnews(26.
0%),business&money(13.
4%),andarts&entertainment(10.
9%)wererankedhigherthanpolitics(5.
4%).
Inaddition,asurveyofBeijingandGuangzhouInternetusersadecadeago(Zhu&He,2002)showedthattheratingofInternetuseforentertainmentpurposesisChineseJournalofCommunication73higherthanthatforinformationalpurposes.
Comparedtoutilityandsurveillanceneeds,diversionisthedominantgraticationInternetnewsusersseektoobtain.
DemographicinuencesInternetnewsuseiscloselyrelatedtoone'sdemographicbackground.
ButwefoundmostofthedifferencescouldbeattributedtothedifferencesintotalInternetusetime.
AswasshowninTable3,malesandyoungerindividualsvisitednewswebpagesmorefrequentlyandspentmoretimeonthem.
Nevertheless,wedidnotndanysignicantdifferencebetweenmalesandfemalesandbetweenyoungandoldindividualsintermsofthepercentageoftimetheydevotedtonews.
Thatistosay,thegenderandageInternetgapsinnewsusecouldbeaccountedforbyaparsimoniousexplanationthatmalesandyoungindividualsspendmoretimeontheInternet.
RapidgrowthInresponsetothequestionwebroughtupatthebeginning,"dopeoplereadmoreorlessnewsonlinerecentlythanbefore",ouransweris"yesandno".
AmostobviousconclusionfromourstudyisthatInternetusers'useofonlinenewsisgrowingrapidly.
OurndingsaredifferentfromthestorybasedonthedatafromCNNIC(Figure1)asusertrackingdataoffersmuchmorerenedevidencethansimplyreporting"use"or"donotuse"newsonline.
However,thegrowthdoesnotnecessarilyindicatethegrowthofsurveillanceneedsofthepublic;instead,itwasareectionoftheincreasingamountoftimepeopleusetheInternet.
In2009,thetotalamountoftimeanaverageShanghaiInternetuserspentonlinewasabout13minutesadaywhilein2011,thisnumberbecamecloseto2hours(116minutes).
Putdifferently,comparedtootherwebactivities,suchasonlinegaming,shopping,andsocialnetworking,thegrowthofnewsreadingingeneralwasslower.
WaningsoftnewsOncethetotalamountoftimepeoplespentonlinewastakenintoconsideration,wefoundrelativeattentiondevotedtosoftnewswaswaningsignicantlyacrossathree-yearperiodwhereasshareofattentiontowardhardnews,includingsocial,political,economy,andnancenews,didnotexperienceanydecrease.
In2009,soft-newsconsumptiononaveragetook8.
19%ofallthetimeauserspentonline,andsocial,political,nance,economynewstook9.
98%ofthetotaltime;in2011,soft-newsconsumptiontook3.
27%ofallthetimeauserspentonlineandsocial,political,nance,economynewstook9.
07%ofthetotaltime.
Thisseemstobethemostrobustandconsistentndingsofourstudy(seeFigure2,softnewscolumn).
DidthespreadoftheInternetbringamorevibrantcivicculturebyencouragingnetizenstoattendtonewsToelucidatethispoint,acausalstatementmightrequiremuchmoreevidencethanourstudyhasoffered.
Butjudgingbythedatawehave,weconcludethatthelevelsofInternetnewsuseseemtobepromising.
Ifattentiontohardnews,socialandpoliticalnewsinparticular,isoneoftheindicatorssuggestinganindividual'spassionforcivicengagement,theciviccultureinmetropolitanareasinChinaseemstobeourishing.
Partly,thiscouldbeattributedtothecommercializa-74FeiShenandHaiLiangtionofChineseportalwebsites.
Infaceofercecompetition,theyhavetolureinalargeraudiencebyofferingnotonlywhatentertainspeoplebutalsowhatconcernstheirlives.
Onehastobecautiousofthelimitationsofthecurrentstudyandavoidover-interpretationofourndings.
Firstandmostobviously,ourdataspeakforthesituationofShanghai.
Readersshouldgeneralizethendingstothewholecountrywithspecialcaution,asgeographicalgapsofcommunicationtechnologyadoptioninChinaaresevere.
Thepenetrationrateinurbanareasisaround73%whileinruralareas,thepenetrationisabout27%9(a46-pointgapinbetween).
Meanwhile,oneshouldnotgototheotherextremetotakethecaseofShanghaiaspurelyidiosyncratic.
FindingsfromShanghaicouldtosomeextentrepresenttheChinesemetropolitanpopulation.
Second,ouroperationalizationofnewspageexposureisleaningtowardtheconservativeendonacontinuuminthatnewsmessagesarenotexclusivetonewswebsites.
Forinstance,whenauserwatchesnewsvideoclipsonvideosharingwebsites,thetrackingsoftwareofiResearchwouldrecordthisasavideosharingwebsite.
Similarly,whenauserlogsontoWeibo,theChineseTwitter-equivalent,readingapieceofnewspostedbyhisorherfriends,thesoftwarewillrecordthewebpagecategoryassocialnetworking.
Butthisdoesnotinvalidateourmeasurebecausevisitingtraditionalnewssitescouldbeconsideredaspossessingastrongmotivationtoseeknewsactively.
Conceptually,thisisdifferentfromvisitinganonlinediscussionforumandreadingapieceofnewsinadvertently.
Despitetheselimitations,ourstudyoffersadetailedlookintothepatternofInternetnewsuseinShanghaiandprovidesempiricalevidencethatChinesepeoplepaidgrowingamountofattentiontosocialandpoliticalnewsoverathree-yeartimespan.
Notes1.
CNNIC,The28thReportontheDevelopmentoftheInternetinChina,http://www.
cnnic.
cn/dtygg/dtgg/201107/W020110719521725234632.
pdf2.
XinmingEveningNews,January3,2012,http://enjoy.
eastday.
com/e/20120103/u1a6290731.
html3.
InternetNewsInformationServiceRegulation,http://news.
xinhuanet.
com/politics/2005-09/25/content_3538899.
html4.
People.
com.
cn,February22,2010,http://media.
people.
com.
cn/GB/40606/10997717.
html5.
BeijingMorningNews,January17,2012,http://news.
xinhuanet.
com/tech/2012-01/17/c_122595694.
htm6.
Theauthorswishtothankiresearch.
com.
cnforsharingthedatasetusedforthisstudy.
Seehttp://www.
iresearch.
com.
cn/7.
ReadersmightndthatthetopnewsportalsitesaccordingtoiResearch'snewsreleasesareXinhua.
comandPeople.
com(e.
g.
,http://www.
iresearch.
com.
cn/View/163306.
html).
Butneitherofthemisrankedhighaccordingtoourndings.
Therearethreelikelyexplanationsforthis.
First,iResearchdidnotdenecomprehensivecommercialportalwebsites(e.
g.
,qq.
com,sina.
com.
cn,163.
com,sohu.
com,andyahoo.
com)as"newsportalsites"intheanalysistheydescribedintheirnewsreleasesdespitethefactthatahugeportionofinformationonthesehomepagesisnews.
Second,iResearch'srankingisbasedonthenumberofuniquevisitors,butourrankingisbasedonabsolutevisitingfrequency(i.
e.
,ifthesameuservisitsthepagetwotimes,itwillbecountedastwovisits).
Third,ourndingisbasedonusersfromShanghaiwhilethendingsdescribedinthenewsreleaseswerebasedonnationalsamples.
ChineseJournalofCommunication758.
Thiscouldbeattributedtobothdemographicandmeasurementdifferences.
First,CNNICsurveysuseanationalsamplebutourdataarebasedonShanghaiusers,whoingeneralhavehigherlevelsofeducationthanthenationalaverage.
Second,asmentionedearlier,CNNICsurveysemployacrudemeasureofonlinenewsusewhichonlydifferentiatesusersfromnon-users,butdoesnotcapturethefrequencyandtimepeoplereadnewsonline.
9.
CNNIC,The28thReportontheDevelopmentoftheInternetinChina,11.
NotesoncontributorsFeiShenisassistantprofessorintheDepartmentofMediaandCommunication,CityUniversityofHongKong.
Hisresearchinterestsincludepublicopinion,mediaeffects,thesociologyofnews,andsocialmovement.
HaiLiangisaPhDstudentintheDepartmentofMediaandCommunication,CityUniversityofHongKong.
Hisresearchfocusesonsocial-mediadatamining,publicopinion,andthesocialpsychologyofattitudechange.
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